The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets wrap up their season-opening seven-game homestand when they host the Central Arkansas Bears on Saturday in Atlanta.
Georgia Tech (3-3) hasn’t had to leave McCamish Pavilion yet this year, but Saturday will mark its final game in its friendly confines until a Dec. 18 meeting with UMBC. Before then, the Yellow Jackets will travel to play at Oklahoma and North Carolina, before heading to Milwaukee for a neutral site game with Northwestern
Last time out, Georgia Tech pulled away from Charleston Southern for a 91-67 victory Wednesday. Leading by eight in the opening minutes of the second half, the Yellow Jackets used a 23-9 run to help snap a two-game losing streak.
“Happy to get back on the right track,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “It’s a step in the right direction. We had, what I thought, were two or three days of good practices. Sometimes you can get humbled in thinking that you’re a little better than you are. That’s on all of us. Starting from the top all the way down the program.”
A pair of heavily relied on sophomores in Baye Ndongo and Naithan George each led the team with 17 points in the win. Ndongo paces the team with 14.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Lance Terry adds 13 points per contest, followed by Javian McCollum (12.8).
Central Arkansas (2-4) is coming off a 92-83 double-overtime win over UNC Asheville. The Bears, of the Atlantic Sun Conference, are led by first-year coach John Shulman. A former NAIA power, Central Arkansas is still searching for its first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I member.
Saturday marks the third of five power-conference opponents for the Bears, who are out to prove themselves under a new coach.
“We are trying to rebuild a program to get back to the prominence of the good old days here at Central Arkansas,” Shulman said. “It’s been a process, a good process. … We didn’t come to this school not to play Georgia Tech. How are you going to get better if you don’t play these big teams? We’re not scared of them, but we respect them. We’re going to go to battle.”
The Bears fell at BYU 88-50, and at Utah 98-63 to start the year. They play at Arkansas and Oklahoma in December.
Layne Taylor leads the team with 15.8 points per game, followed by Elias Cato at 15.
